SDX Energy faces opposition in its plans to sell itself to Canada’s Tenaz Energy, with Aleph Commodities voicing its disapproval.
SDX said today that it had received a letter from Aleph on July 16. Aleph, and other parties, hold 25.65% in SDX.
The Aleph letter said it planned to vote against the deal with Tenaz at the shareholder meeting on July 29.
The companies structured the deal as a scheme of arrangement. Under this, 75% of shares must back the agreement.
“Aleph welcomes the opportunity to engage with management and the Board of Directors to explore opportunities to provide financial, commercial and technical support to SDX to ensure the growth of the Company and its production base, with minimal dilution,” the letter said.
SDX’s board is considering the letter and it will provide further comment in due course.
The company announced the deal with Tenaz on May 25. This valued SDX at £21.4 million in an all-share offer. Each SDX share was to be swapped for 0.075 new shares in Tenaz. This would give SDX holders a 36% stake in the Canadian company.
At the time the offer was made, the Tenaz share price was C$2.36. Since then, the price has fallen about 15% to C$2. This offer now values SDX at around £18.2mn.
At the end of June, Tenaz did change the terms of its offer, saying it would provide a cash alternative.
According to a disclosure on July 8, Aleph owns a 1.31% stake in SDX. Jersey-based Parsimony has a 23.21% stake in SDX. It seemingly acquired this from Abu Dhabi-based Waha Capital.
Aleph Commodities is one of three companies in the group, alongside InterTank and Aleph New Energies.